Internet has made restaurant shopping services feasible, as diners can be given a selection of restaurants within a specified distance of their location. Food can then be delivered to them, or diners can go to the restaurant to pick up their order. Additionally, availability of Global Positioning System (“GPS”) receivers on mobile phones allows diners to locate restaurants near their physical locations and place orders from these restaurants through a restaurant service system. The placed orders are then communicated to respective serving restaurants, which will subsequently confirm reception of the orders. The serving restaurants may provide additional information, such as estimated delivery time of each order, pertaining to the orders they are serving. Such information may further be communicated to diners.
When the orders are prepared and ready for delivery, delivery drivers pick up the orders from the restaurants, and deliver them to respective diners. To keep diners apprised of the status of their orders, various statuses pertaining to their orders are provided to the diners. Order statuses include, for example, unconfirmed by a restaurant, confirmed by the restaurant, ready-for-delivery, being delivered, five minutes from the diner's place, six minutes before or after estimated delivery time, etc. Due to various factors, the estimated delivery time for an order may not be accurate. For example, some restaurants are not skilled at accurately estimating their delivery time, or equipped with sufficient technologies for accurate estimation. As an additional example, some delivery drivers working for or associated with certain restaurants are not effective drivers. As still a further example, during busy time periods (such as 6-8 PM on Fridays) or in inclement weather, estimated delivery time can be less accurate.
Since the most important goal for a restaurant service is to provide a high-quality service, information about the accuracy of estimated delivery time for an order can be helpful in numerous ways. For example, an assessment of the accuracy of estimated delivery time provided by restaurants can be provided to diners in assisting their selection of restaurants or for informational purpose. As an additional example, the assessment can help to rank or rate the restaurants participating the restaurant service.
Accordingly, there exists a need for assessing the accuracy of estimated delivery time provided by restaurants within a restaurant service.